Representatives of the business community frequently are the worst
enemies of freedom. They often seek special subsidies and handouts, and
commonly conspire with politicians to thwart competition (conveniently,
they want competition among their suppliers, just not for their own
products). Fortunately, most business organizations still tend to be -
on balance - supporters of limited government. But as the Wall Street Journal notes, some state and local chambers of commerce have become relentless enemies of good policy

One Comment

ElamBend:

Out of law school I worked for a medium sized real estate developer in Chicago as part of my process of becoming a developer. He had purchased a few properties in an up an coming neighborhood. One particular building, and old Heating company building that he had purchased was giving him headaches. It had room for three commercial users. He'd gotten in a bank branch, and had two other users lined up. Unfortunately, the aldeman and local 'business' interests were an obstacle.

In particular I remember meeting the president of the neighborhood Chamber of Commerce. She started telling me that she didn't want any sandwich shops (one of the users we had lined up), but instead wanted to see lots of little boutiques, like another neighborhood (that had about a 10-year head start in redevelopment). Listening to her I wanted to ask is she actually owned a business or just joined the Chamber of Commerce in order to tell people what to do. I didn't say anything because the guy I was working for had plans in the neighborhood beyond just that single building. He eventually got the users in there he wanted but it was a year later (carrying the building the whole time). The neighborhood hasn't yet undergone the transition that it could because some people believe in stasis.